Four restaurants in the city offer fusion menus

From Masala Calzone to Tandoori Prawns, four restaurants in the city introduce fusion menus.

United in their passion for food, fine dining restaurants in the city are going where most Punjabi restaurateurs hesitate to go-that is daring to experiment with fusion food.

Simply Punjabi lists four restaurants in the city that have tossed up delicacies like masala calzone, basil paneer tikka and the famous tandoori prawns flavoured with lemongrass. All there to satiate your appetite!

Tiffany's

This restaurant has been a trendsetter in bringing forth 'Funjabi' cuisine, as Executive Chef Parveen.K.Sharma likes to call it. The idea is to tweak time-honoured concepts and introduce a cuisine that is slightly unfamiliar to the Punjabi palate, yet not unfamiliar enough to be classified as totally international.

At this casual, 74-cover diner overlooking the pool at the Radisson Hotel, Sharma and his team of 10 chefs serve an interesting repertoire of fusion dishes-Indian Veggi Fondue (Swiss cheese and Indian vegetables, served with olives and imported white asparagus, with flavour of Italian Balsamic vinegar), and Punjabi-Tepanyaki (grilled meat marinated with Mongolian sauces).

A classic treat among the non-vegetarians is mutton seekh pao, a melt-in-themouth mutton delicacy, coated with basil and cheese, marinated with mint gravy and cooked in the tandoor for hours. The breads here are a speciality as they are freshly baked. Their dessert is equally intriguing, with khajur ke rasgulle topping the list.

Kava in Chandigarh specialises in providing an exotic amalgamation of Indian, Italian, Oriental and continental flavours. "Today, the world is shrinking and that holds true for food as well. Our well-travelled local and expatriate clients are knowledgeable of world cuisines and look for interesting variations of these," says Milan Prabhat, Executive Sous Chef at Kava.

Prabhat and his team of 12 chefs have acquired a reputation among their expat and local clients for their riccota and sundried tomato potli samosa, basil paneer tikka, and wasabi prawns, wrapped with a lemon grass dip. "Certain fusion dishes, especially the ones combining Indian tastes with the goodness of Italian ingredients, are low on spices, and hence healthier," says Prabhat.

A hot selling fusion delicacy at Kava is basil paneer tikka-a healthy mix of Indian and continental ingredients. It's prepared by marinating chopped paneer pieces in curd, riccota cheese, ginger and garlic. Once the dish is grilled to perfection, it is garnished with chili flakes and oregano, served with sweet basil sauce.

Hops n Grains-the region's first and only micro-brewery located in Panchkula serves exciting off-beat options. It's a welcome change from the oil-drenched staples that populate the menus of most restaurants.

The menu at the newly opened Pewter Room is definitely getting longer-making place for exciting fusion flavours. The trademark fusion dish at this fine diner is their amuse bouche, which is an interesting combination of Indian, Spanish, Continental, Italian, American and even African food styles.

Their subz ka nimona with spinach polenta, butter chicken with peanut butter, tandoori prawns with lemongrass flavour and Thai cucumber achara, have been well received by city folks as well.

"It's always interesting to put together a dish with unexpected combinations and flavours. It gives you a dish totally original in character and taste. Though we are not into hardcore fusion of ingredients, we try to harmonise the authentic dishes together to create a new balance as one dish," informs Piyush Jain.

Dishes such as peanut butter chicken with kasoori methi and masala beans, tandoori chicken consomme with mint chutney and badam ki yakhni with molecular saffron spaghetti are just some of the delights on offer.